Marker and highlighter pen holder

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a simple pen holder that is convenient and functional for one handed use. The pen holder stores different sizes and styles of pens and accommodates storing the pen caps. The invention can be adjustably placed on any work surface such as a tilting printer lid, side of a computer, on a monitor, a pencil sharpener, on the work top and any other convenient surface. The invention can be fabricated from any suitable material. Further, the pen holder can have any number of cavities for holding pens. Upper cylindrical cavity wells hold the pen bodies and a lower cylindrical cavity traps the pen tip and thus minimizes the pen tip from drying out. The pen caps can be stored in a pen cap clip that is relative to the pen body to identify the cavity that the pen should be returned to after use, thus eliminating a cross contamination of different color inks from other cavities.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a pen holder and, more particularly, toa marker and highlighter pen holder that can mount in any plane fromhorizontal to vertical for convenient ergonomically access, accommodatea variety of pen styles and sizes, keeps the pen tips from drying outand holds the pen caps in relation to the position of the stored pens.

Further reference to a marker and highlighter pen holder will bereferred to as a “pen holder”.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the many different pens available in today's market there is a needto hold whichever type pen the consumer uses at a ergonomicallyconvenient place for convenient access in the working environment,preferably off of the cluttered work surface. Pens with caps present afurther problem, that of being misplaced, hidden under papers and othermaterials on the work surface. Highlighter and marker pens dry out whenleft with their caps off for extended periods of time. It is alsoimportant in storing pens with caps removed that they are not crossstored in different cavity wells where the colors of one pen cancontaminate the color of another pen at its tip. Continually removingand resetting caps to keep the tips from drying out on some pens isannoying and sometimes difficult when one is marking multiple pages ofdocuments and using different color pens.

There are numerous patents and prior art associated with pen holderswhere one-handed operation is desired. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,620,529 toFerris, No. 1,641,829 to Sheaffer, No. 1,641,846 to Fremon, No.1,762,104 to Liddell, No. 1,789,439 to Horix, No. 1,804,120 toSengbusch, No. 2,011,040 to Cuthbert, No. 2,082,831 to Hansen, No.2,957,270 to Kennamer, No. 3,428,380 to Danjczek, No. 3,463,323 toRiepe, No. 3,476,257 to O'Connell, No. 3,866,992 to Katz, No. 4,415,092to Boyer, No. 4,493,575 to Mutschler, No. 4,826,338 to Kilpatrick, No.4,850,484 to Denman, No. 5,033,629 to Caine, No. 5,163,549 to Hayduchok,No. 5,337,906 to Digiulio, No. 5,405,024 to Sahf, No. 5,447,243 toGraber, No. 5,544,764 to Cima, No. 5,628,400 to Feder, No. 6,257,539 B1to Pelaez and US 2004/0060952 to Perlman are examples of such penholders. Some of the preceding discloses methods of keeping the pen tipsfrom drying out. Most of these examples are limited to one pen size andstyle. It is apparent that most of these inventions are complex andwould be relatively expensive to produce. Further, none of them addressany means for storing the pen caps. US 2004/0060952 application toPerlman and No. 5,163,549 to Hayduchok discloses a complex means forholding a pen cap so that the pen is always inserted into the cap. Thisdevice requires awkward manipulations for installing and as pens snapinto the cap this art requires exerted force to remove the pen. No.6,202,862 B1 to Acquaviva also requires the device being held by a wallbracket or a second hand, further it is also relatively expensive toproduce requiring foam type material inlayed in the cavity wells. U.S.Pat. No. 3,463,323 to Riepe discloses a complicated device for India inkpens with pen cap receptacles for holding the pens caps, however, thisis limited to one type of pen and its specific cap. U.S. Pat. No.6,257,539 B1 to Pelaez is a simple pen holder limited to one size andstyle pen and is designed for setting on a horizontal surface only. U.S.Pat. No. 5,880,713 to Belardinelli presents an ingenious device forstoring pens and other desktop articles but does not address storing pencaps or any method to keep marker and highlighter pens from drying out.

Heretofore, no device has been created to fulfill the need for a penholder that accommodates different size pens, different styles of pens,be placed or mounted on any plane surface from horizontal to vertical atany angle and reduces evaporation of liquid inks. Moreover, no currentapproach addresses the problem for storing a variety of different stylepen caps, is simple and inexpensive to produce, and further does notrequire exerted force to remove the pen from the pen holder.

It is therefore an object of the invention to have a pen holder thatmounts to any surface from horizontal to vertical.

It is another object of the invention to have a pen holder that acceptsdifferent size pens.

It is another object of the invention to have a pen holder that acceptsdifferent styles and configurations of pens.

It is another object of the invention to have a pen holder that acceptsthe attachment of pen caps.

It is another object of the invention to have a pen holder thatminimizes the evaporation of the pen's ink.

It is another object of the invention to have a pen holder that issimple and inexpensive to fabricate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a pen holderthat conveniently stores different sizes and styles of pens and providesa means for holding the pen caps. The invention can be adjustably placedon any surface from horizontal to vertical at any angle such as a worksurface, tilting printer lid, side of a computer, on a monitor, a pencilsharpener and any other convenient surface by means of a mounting pad orother attaching means. The invention can be fabricated from any suitablematerial such as wood, plastic, and metal. Further, the pen holder canhave multiple cavity wells. The cylindrical pen cavity well openingshold the body of the pen. At the bottom of the cavity is a lowercylindrical hole of a diameter and depth that will accept a variety ofpen configurations so that some portion of the pen's neck that holds thepen tip will engage at the top edge of the lower cylindrical cavity soas to form a seal at the neck of the pen to minimize the circulation ofair at the tip, thus preventing the tip from drying out. Each cavitywell has its dedicated pen cap clip for attaching the relative pen cap.As pen caps are identified with the color of the pen's ink, having thatpen cap attached to a particular cavity well insures that the useralways replaces the pen in that cavity well thus eliminatingcontamination of ink colors from other cavities. The pen cap clipfurther eliminates the potential for misplacing the pen cap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained byreference to the accompanying drawings, when considered in conjunctionwith the subsequent, detailed description, in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric front view of a pen holder of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric back view of a pen holder of this invention withmounting pad positioned for angled and vertical mounting;

FIG. 3 is a cross section view of a pen holder of this invention frontview plane A-A in FIG. 1. illustrating different pen styles in the penholder;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a pen holder of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of a pen holder of this inventionthrough plane B-B showing pen stored in cavity well and associated pencap stored in pen cap clip; and

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of an alternate design pen holder fabricatedfrom a solid block of material.

For purposes of clarity and brevity, like elements and components willbear the same designations and numbering throughout the FIGURES.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Generally speaking, the invention comprises a pen storage unit fordifferent types and styles of marker and highlighter pens. The inventioncomprises a plurality of adjacent cylindrical cavity wells. Each cavitywell is of the same size and shape of a size to accept receivingdifferent sizes and styles of pens. Each cavity well has an associatedpen cap clip rigidly attached for storing the pen cap of each pen.

Now referring to FIG. 1, an isometric front view of a pen holder 10illustrating the vertical base plate 12, horizontal base plate 14,cylindrical pen cavity wells 16 with cavities 20. Each of the pen cavitywells 16 are space ergonomically apart to facilitate ease of withdrawinga pen without disturbing adjacent pens. Each pen cavity well 16 has anassociated pen cap clip 18 for receiving a pen cap C. The pen holder 10illustrated has four pen cavities 16, but it is evident that a single orany multiple arrangement of pen cavities 16 may be produced in differentconfigurations. Further, provided are holes 42 in the vertical baseplate 12 and the horizontal base plate 14 for mounting the pen holder10.

Referring to FIG. 2, an isometric back view of a pen holder 10illustrating a mounting pad 24 connected to the vertical base plate 12.The mounting pad 24 is of a size that it can be placed on either thevertical base plate 12 or the horizontal base plate 14 so as to mountthe pen holder 10 at the user's most convenient position. The pen holder10 can also be placed on a horizontal work surface without using themounting pad 24. Other means of attaching or mounting the pen holderincludes the use of screws.

Referring to FIG. 3, which is a cross sectional view of a pen holder 10through the dashed line plane A-A shown in FIG. 1, illustrating fourdifferent current style pens P1, P2, P3 and P4 held in the cavity wells20. It would be apparent to anyone skilled in the art to see that otherinstruments can also be held, such as ball point pens, pencils and otherelongate instruments. When placing pens in the pen cavity wells 20, thepen necks 32 fit into the pen tip cavity 26, resting on the pen tipcavity edge 28, thus making a seal for restricting circulating air fromdrying out the pen tip 34. The pen body 30 easily fits into the pencavity well 20 for effortless withdrawal. When the pen holder 10 ismounted at an angle less than vertical the pen body 30 will lean to thedownside edge of the pen cavity well 20 a distance relative to thediameter of the pen body 30 and the cavity well 16. This does not affectthe effectiveness of the pen tip cavity edge 28 from restrictingcirculating air in the pen tip cavity 26.

Referring to FIG. 4, which is a top plan view of the pen holder 10further illustrating the position of the pen tip cavity 26 in relationwith the pen cavity well 20 and the pen cap clip cavity 22 in relationwith the pen cap clip 18.

Referring to FIG. 5, which is a cross sectional view of a pen holder 10through the dashed line plane B-B illustrating how the pen cap pocketclip 36 of pen cap C is positioned when attached to the pen cap clip 18.The dimensions and the position on the pen cap clip 18 are designed toaccommodate a variety of different style pen caps. The pen cap C isplaced in the pen cap clip 18 by snapping the cap pocket clip 36 overthe pen cap clip 18 into the pen clip cavity 22 in the position asshown.

Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown an alternate embodiment of the penholder 10 shown in FIG. 1. The alternate pen holder 100 is fabricatedfrom a solid block of material 38 such as an exotic wood, for designerconscious users. The opening 40 provided accommodates the small tab 44on the end of the pocket clip 36.

Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operatingrequirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in theart, the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen forpurposes of disclosure, and covers all changes and modifications whichdo not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of thisinvention.

Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected byLetters Patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims.

1. A pen holder for holding various types of pens and pen capscomprising: means for supporting cylindrical pen cavity wells and formounting pen holder to vertical and angled surfaces; means for placingpen holder on a horizontal surface, rigidly connected to said means forsupporting cylindrical pen cavity wells and for mounting pen holder tovertical and angled surfaces; means for holding pens, rigidly connectedto said means for supporting cylindrical pen cavity wells and formounting pen holder to vertical and angle surfaces; means for receivinga pen tip; means for trapping the pen's neck to seal out circulating airaround pen's tip; means for holding pen caps; and means for mounting penholder to various surfaces;
 2. The pen holder in accordance with claim1, wherein said means for supporting cylindrical pen cavity wells andfor mounting pen holder to vertical and angled surfaces comprises arigid vertical base plate.
 3. The pen holder in accordance with claim 1,wherein said means for placing pen holder on a horizontal surfacecomprises a rigid horizontal base plate rigidly connected to verticalbase plate.
 4. The pen holder in accordance with claim 1, wherein saidmeans for holding pens comprises cylindrical cavity wells.
 5. The penholder in accordance with claim 1, wherein said means for receiving thepen tip comprises a bottom cylindrical cavity at the bottom of the uppercylindrical cavity well.
 6. The pen holder in accordance with claim 1,wherein said means for trapping the pen neck to seal out circulating airaround the pen tip is the edge at the top of the bottom cylindricalcavity.
 7. The pen holder in accordance with claim 1, wherein said meansfor holding pen caps comprises a rigid pen cap clip rigidly connected tocylindrical cavity wells.
 8. The pen holder in accordance with claim 1,wherein said means for mounting the pen holder to vertical, angled andhorizontal surfaces comprises a mounting pad.
 9. The pen holder inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said means for mounting the pen holderto vertical, angled and horizontal surfaces comprises screws.
 10. A penholder for holding various types of pens and pen caps comprising: arigid vertical base plate for supporting cavity wells and for mountingpen holder to vertical and angle surfaces. a rigid horizontal baseplate, for placing or mounting pen holder on a horizontal surface,rigidly connected to said vertical base plate; rigid cylindrical cavitywells, for holding pens, rigidly connected to said vertical base plateand horizontal base plate; a rigid pen cap clip, for holding pen caps,rigidly connected to said cylindrical cavity wells; a pen tip cavity,for capturing pen tips; a pen tip cavity edge, for trapping the pen'sneck to seal out circulating air; and a mounting pad for holding penholder to vertical, angled and horizontal surfaces.
 11. The pen holderin accordance with claim 10, wherein said pen holder is fabricated fromplastic.
 12. The pen holder in accordance with claim 10, wherein saidpen holder is fabricated from wood.
 13. The pen holder in accordancewith claim 10, wherein said pen holder is fabricated from metal.
 14. Thepen holder in accordance with claim 10, wherein said means for mountingsaid pen holder comprises adhesive.
 15. The pen holder in accordancewith claim 10, wherein said means for mounting said pen holder comprisestape.
 16. The pen holder in accordance with claim 8, wherein saidmounting pad for mounting said pen holder comprises adhesive material.17. The pen holder in accordance with claim 8, wherein said mounting padfor mounting said pen holder comprises screws.
 18. The pen holder inaccordance with claim 10, wherein said cylindrical cavity wells,vertical base plate and horizontal base plate are formed from a solidblock of material.
 19. The pen holder in accordance with claim 10,wherein said pen cap clip is formed from a solid block of material andrigidly attached to said cylindrical cavity wells formed from a solidblock of material in accordance with claim
 18. 20. The pen holder inaccordance with claim 10, wherein said vertical and horizontal baseplates, cylindrical cavity well and pen cap clip are all formed from thesame solid block of material.